Bells at Temple Square
The Bells at Temple Square handbell ensemble includes 33 volunteer musicians drawn from within 100 miles of Temple Square. The holiday concert “Visions of the Season” will be performed and live-streamed on November 18.© 2022 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.
The Bells at Temple Square celebrate the start of the 2022 holiday season with “Visions of the Season.” Returning to its annual concert tradition, the Bells will perform Friday and Saturday, November 18–19, 2022, at 7:30 p.m. mountain standard time (MST) in the Salt Lake Tabernacle.
The concert will feature the talented versatility of the 33-member handbell choir playing on two sets of English handbells (one with 7 octaves and one with 6½ octaves) and two 6-octave sets of hand chimes. The handbell ensemble is always a favorite with audiences because the bells appear to be dancing as they make their enchanting sounds. “With the bells, it is not just about playing the notes,” said Teresa Winder, one of the charter members of the Bells at Temple Square. “It’s a visual art.”
Tickets
Tickets for the concert are free but required, and usually go quickly. Each patron may request four tickets and admission is open to those eight years of age and older. Tickets are now being distributed on a first-come, first-served basis and may be requested here for Friday, November 18 or Saturday, November 19. Access to the Tabernacle on Temple Square will be through the west gates. Check the map here for access and parking locations.
Stream the Concert on November 18 and then On-Demand
This concert will be streamed on The Tabernacle Choir’s website on Friday, November 18, at www.tabchoir.org and on the Choir’s YouTube channel. It will also be available for on demand viewing at the end of the concert on the Choir’s YouTube channel and in the Choir’s website “Watch and Listen” section.
Program
The concert will be led by LeAnna Willmore, conductor of the Bells at Temple Square, with the assistance of Geoff Anderson, associate conductor.
The evening features Beethoven’s “Hymn to Joy” and the American folksongs “Shenandoah” and “This Is My Country.” They will be followed by Christmas favorites “Christmas is Coming,” “Carol of the Birds,” “Joy to the World,” “Do You Hear What I Hear?” “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” “O Holy Night,” and “We Three Kings.” The concert finishes with “The Man with the Bag” and “Wizards in Winter.”
As with past Bells at Temple Square concerts, the handbell numbers will be interspersed with performances by members of the Orchestra at Temple Square and an organ solo, provided by a Temple Square organist.
Bells on Temple Square
The Bells on Temple Square perform during the “Celebrate with Joy” concert in the Tabernacle on Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Friday, November 20, 2015. Photo by Ravell Call, courtesy of Church News. Copyright 2022 Deseret News Publishing Company.
About the Bells at Temple Square
The Bells at Temple Square have been performing with The Tabernacle Choir and in separate concerts since it was organized in 2005. The Bells at Temple Square handbell ensemble includes 33 volunteer musicians drawn from within 100 miles of Temple Square. Like the members of The Tabernacle Choir, Orchestra at Temple Square, and Chorale at Temple Square, all the bell ringers are volunteer musicians. In addition to its anticipated twice-yearly concerts, the Bells often take part in the weekly “Music & the Spoken Word” broadcast and play a major role in the Choir’s annual Christmas concerts.